Tomatoes, Book Signing, and plates

The tomatoes have been ripening in the garden. I was remiss in not sharing the first one. I grabbed it greedily and had it for breakfast on sliced sourdough bread. Soon the clamors for bacon and tomato sandwiches were heard but I had to wait until I had enough all ripe at the same time. Then of course, the refrigerator broke and I had to throw away a pound of bacon. Finally, we managed to get it together and they were every bit as good as we remembered.

Last night, Owen from Tomatilla, Guy from MeatHenge, and yours truly were all down at the bookstore talking and signing books. By now, I've got enough tomatoes to share so I decided to make up some bruschetta to share. I also brought along some lovely cherry tomatoes. We had a nice crowd--thanks to all the local friends and neighbors that showed up! I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of the Chatanooga Choo Choo Barbecue that Guy brought along!


When I was looking for something to carry the food in, I remembered the Hefty Serve 'n Store dishes that a PR agency had sent me for review. I've used them a few times. They are clever, with interlocking plates and bowls so you can grab two of them and they'll fit together easily enough. I've found two good uses for them. During the early part of swim season, the girls were on different practice schedules so I could cook dinner and eat with one, then save a plate for the other in the frig, easily microwave it, and serve it. There are perhaps greener alternatives, such as my usual cover one plate with another when microwaving. (I dislike having plastic touch the food when microwaving.) But this worked well given that I had them readily available and made it easy for setting up lunches the next day as well. I have also used them to go to a few potlucks and used them last night to bring the bruschetta down to the bookstore. The plates are sturdy enough to hold up, not like flimsy paper dishes where you're worried about them collapsing under the weight of the food. The food stays well covered until you're ready to serve and you don't have to remember to bring your dishes back home! They're not something I'd buy regularly but they do come in handy now and then.

Book signing tomorrow night in Pleasanton

If you're local to the San Francisco Bay Area, come on over to Pleasanton, to Towne Center Books, tomorrow Wednesday, July 27th at 7:30pm. Owen of Tomatilla, Dr. Biggles of MeatHenge and I will be speaking about blogs and food and cooking and writing and all that other good stuff that comes together in Digital Dish. Lots of stores stay open on Wednesday evenings in our lovely downtown so you can meander up and down Main Street before or after our book signing.

Life Without a Refrigerator

I was at a neighbor's house for dinner when the girls called. "Mom, the ice in the freezer is melting or something." I was, of course, convinced that one of them had left the door ajar so didn't panic. But by the time I got home, not only had the ice melted but all the frozen food had defrosted--not really what I wanted to deal with at 9:30 at night! I was still thinking it was just the freezer part of the refrigerator somehow, so emptied it and went to bed.

We were up bright and early for a swim meet the next morning and I realized that the refrigerator section was not cold either. I had no time to do anything other than whine, so I did that as we headed out the door at 7am. I called my friendly appliance repairman when we got home that afternoon and he diagnosed it as the condenser. Not a cheap part. The good news is that it might still be under warrant. The bad news is the manufacturer doesn't answer phones on the weekend so I'm stuck waiting until Monday. I've thrown out everything questionable and moved a few things into my neighbor's fridge. Some stuff that doesn't actually require refrigeration is still inside, along with big frozen gallons of water from the garage freezer to help keep things cool.

So the cooking should be interesting until this is fixed. Any leftovers will need to be frozen. And I'll have to shop for meat just before cooking I suppose, or defrost stuff. I keep meaning to empty and get rid of the garage freezer but right now it's proving itself helpful.

Marinated Chicken for the Grill

I love marinated barbecued chicken. Chicken is so mild without some help. I will frequently mix up a large batch of marinade and then put various pieces of chicken in freezer bags with portions of the marinade. When you're in a hurry for dinner, pull out a bag of chicken the night or two before you want to cook it and thaw it in your refrigerator. Barbecue it or bake it. With very little fuss, voila!, you've got nice flavorful chicken!

This marinade I adapted from the 30 Day Gourmet cookbook, but substituted a raspberry flavored vinegar for their red-wine vinegar. I'm sure it's a winner either way. This was enough for 6 bone-in chicken breasts.

1 Tsp salt
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbs dry mustard
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried parsley

Mix up the marinade and marinate the chicken at least a few hours.

I barbecued the bone-in chicken breasts over a medium fire for about 10-15 minutes per side. They were great, but a longer marinating time would be even better I think. The leftovers were fantastic, some of which I made into a curried chicken salad.

Chicken Salad with Curry, Apples, and Raisins

I've been remiss in my blogging. You'd think summer would be the time of taking it easy, but trying to get my "day job" work done at home when the kids are out of school is taking its toll. Cooking has been more repeats than experimentation and what new recipes I've tried, I've been remiss in documenting. I do remember to take pictures and will use those as a reminder of what I need to add here, but in the meantime...

Thumbing through an issue of Cooking Light the other day, I spotted a picture of some curried chicken salad that looked and sounded so good for a cool lunch one hot day, I resolved to cook some extra chicken one night at dinner to ensure I could make it for lunch. I was not disappointed at all. I know food fanciers might scoff at the jars labeled "curry powder" sold at the local grocers, but this was somehow a comfort food for me. I certainly never ate "real" Indian food until ten years ago. And I didn't try to cook any until a few years ago, although I certainly have some favorites now. Still, bottled curry powder was reminiscnet of my childhood. I can remember my mom making a few things with it, although not many. Somehow I suspect perhaps there was a chicken salad with curry powder because this tasted very familiar!

1 chicken breast, cooked, skinned, and chopped
2-3 Tbs mayonnaise, depending on how big the chicken breast is
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 a tart apple, chopped
1/2 a little box of raisins (1-2 Tbs?)
1 stalk celery, diced
salt to taste

Mix together the mayonnaise and curry powder. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir, tasting and adding whatever seems to be missing.

One chicken breast made two servings for me, so expand as necessary. I mixed and ate it at lunch today, with the chicken breast from last night. I suspect it will be even better tomorrow after the flavors have melded together a bit more.

And a tip for the "cheap" part of CheapCooking. Look for the annual compilations of your favorite cooking magazines at the used bookstores. What do you care if you've got recipes from two years ago? I do like a few magazines, such as Sunset and Cooking Light, but I like to pick up the annual collections of others at the used bookstores. I can skim through at my leisure, decide whether to keep them or not, and either resell or donate those I don't want to keep. But if you do want to order magazines, check out this place. It will search the Internet for the best subscription prices for you. I've ordered several magazines through their referrals and have been very placed. No affiliate income here--just a pleased customer.

Pleasanton event at our local bookstore

If you're local to the San Francisco Bay Area, come on over to Pleasanton, to Towne Center Books, on the evening of Wednesday, July 27th. I'll be speaking about blogs and food and cooking and writing and all that other good stuff that comes together in Digital Dish.

Cucumber and Mango Salsa

I've been enjoying playing around with various non-tomato salsas recently. My favorite is probably still the mango or peach salsa I've written up before. The grape and cucumber salsa was also delicious.

My parents came down for a visit over the weekend and one night I cooked up some pork tenderloin with my favorite bourbon marinade. Looking for a light side dish, I found a cucumber, mango, and black bean "salad" in the recent issue of Cooking Light. I had most, but not all, of the ingredients. I didn't have any orange juice, so used some lemon juice instead. I was also mostly out of cilantro unfortunately. The patch in my garden has gone to seed with this heat, although I managed to salvage a few small leaves. I'm guessing they are calling it a salad because of the black beans, but with fruit and jalapenos it sure seems like a salsa to me. It went great with the barbecued pork and kept well for leftovers the next day.

1 cup chopped cucumber
1 cup chopped mango
1 14.5 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 Tbs minced jalapeno (or more to taste)
1 Tbs (or more) chopped fresh cilantro
2 Tbs lime juice
1 Tbs lemon juice (or orange juice)
1/2 tsp salt

As with any salsa, these measurements are to give you a starting point only. If the cucumber or mangoes you have add up to a bit less or more, just use it and taste and adjust seasonings if need be. In fact, the original recipe called for a 1/2 cup of black beans, but I just used the whole can.